evilknieval69

As far as im aware none of those fish will eat snails. Otos dont need wood in their diet but BN do.

Thats harsh, just chill Because of the fact you do them everyday. The harmful substances dont have time to build up between water changes. Whats the point in doing a water change when the test kits all read 0, and theres no fish in there? If it was me id put a few fish in, then do a water change in a few days, then slowly build up the biological filter.

Soundin good!

Im sorry luke but im going to have to disagree with you. If you are going to do a water change, then only do a smallish one around 25%. The tank is cycled so you shouldnt have to do a water change as it should be free of nitrite, nitrate and ammonia. You only need to water change once these levels get up. Doing a 90% water change will upset the already cycled tank, and most probably send it into another cycle. HTH

Its when people make posts like your last one amazonian and they are near impossible to read.... 8) Like 'goo' WTF?!?!? :lol:

I think i read somewhere that you are meant to have one pump at the back pumping to one side, then the other one at the front pumping to the other side, therefore creating a hurricane effect.... Not entirely sure though.... When i had my 30L tank going i had a 1200LPH powerhead, 580 LPH HOB filter and a 300LPH powerhead, just to give you an idea of how much i had

Well done angus! What equipment are you running? Ie, lighting, filter, co2 injection, heating...

Thanks for the input guys. Alanmin, you are very right about that. I have changed the heading a bit so its not necessarily about starting Thanks

Can i say i have one when its only a 100L plastic drum?

Awesome looking tank, Just whip a few frags out for your tank and you'l be set, he'll never know 8)

woa thanks joze, i have added it to the article. Once we have the article pretty much sorted i will email it to caryl and will acknowledge the forum members for their help

With that amount of light you may be battling a bit of algae without a good co2 setup. Regulators can usualy be found pretty cheaply nowadays. I know theres a good tunze one on trademe ATM for $125... Bottles can be rented from BOC for $11 a month, and thats about all you need. Except for a difuser/reactor which you can DIY Good luck with the tank

That would munch a wandering anenomie quite nicely

Thanks for the input guys, I shall change it around a little bit now

What are tire tracks an fire eels like with fish like pencilfish and harlequins? Lunch?

Just my observation here alan, i think you should go to your profile and wrote 'alan 104' in as your signature. That way, you don't have to write it every time, And you can also write as small amount as you want and it doesnt look so bad....

Hi guys. i chucked this together in quite literaly 40 minutes. can people please add to what i have written, and correct things i may have said wrong etc? I want to make this a nice article that plant beginners can read, so dont want to put them wrong. Any help is apreciated Thinking of going planted? Read here... It seems that a lot of people have been wanting to start planted tanks lately, so I’m going to run through what sort of equipment you will need to have a successful planted tank. The tank The size of your planted tank isn’t a major factor, but the smaller you go, the less plants you can easily fit into the tank. Your not going to have a huge amazon sword in a 20L tank are you. I would suggest starting out with around a 4 foot, 200L tank. This article will be based on using a tank about that size. Substrate Plants like to have a small-medium sized substrate around their roots, as they can dig in better and feel more secure. Substrates such as 2-5mm gravel are perfect for plants. I recommend using an under gravel fertiliser under the top substrate as well, so heavy root feeders like swords can feed. These aren’t a necessity but do help with the growing of the plants. Plants like swords and crypts will need a deep substrate as they have alot of heavy roots, so 4-5cm's deep would be a good start. Heating Two 100w heaters will be best for heating in a tank this size if you live in a warmish area; if you live in a cold area, two 150w heaters would be better. if your using two heaters have one set at a couple degrees lower than the other to prevent both heaters heating at the same time which could overcompensate resulting in a constant rise and fall in temperature. If you want to get really fussy with your plants, you can also use an under gravel heating cable. These keep the plant roots nice and warm. Once again, these are not a necessity in growing healthy plants, but do help a little bit. Under gravel heaters can usually be picked up for around $150. Filtration Filtration in a planted tank should not be hugely gushing, as plants will easily become up-rooted. In a 200L tank I would recommend a 1000 lph canister filter such as the Aqua one CF1000, which can usually be found for around $100. Canister filters are great as they have a large area for media, and are not visible in the tank. Smaller internal filters could also be used, but take up valuable tank space. There are lots of filters on the market, but as a general rule, you want a filter that will run 4 to 6 times your tank volume per hour. Lighting The most important part in a planted aquarium is the lighting. Lighting should not be skimped on, as it is what keeps your plants alive and healthy. For a 200L tank there are many different options for light. 1-1.5 Watt per litre is the recommended amount of light for a planted tank. Four 4 foot t8 tubes (t8 tubes are standard flouros found in commercial fittings) would be a good amount of light in a 200L tank. T5 lighting is another, more expensive option. T5’s are thinner tubes, which are higher wattage than the corresponding t8’s. Metal halide is the even more expensive option. For a 4 foot tank, you would need two Metal Halides to get the correct spread of light, so wouldn’t be the cheapest option. For now we will go with the 4 t8 tubes as they will give you 152w’s of light. Carbon dioxide supplement Plants grow using a process called photosynthesis. For plants to do this process, they need light, CO2 and fertilisers. CO2 is the second most important part of the process, with lighting being first. CO2 is a readily available form of carbon, plants expire CO2 and Oxygen. CO2 will also change the hardness and the Ph of the water. However plants are benefited by the nitrification process in the nitrogen cycle and the initial mineralisation in which plants play a major part, along with anaerobic and aerobic bacteria. CO2 can be provided in different ways. I will run through 3 ways. The best way is through CO2 injection. CO2 injection can be done two different ways; pressurised CO2 injection, and DIY CO2 injection. A Pressurised CO2 setup consists of a CO2 bottle, CO2 regulator, Needle valve, and a CO2 diffuser or reactor. This is the bare minimum for a pressurised CO2 setup. A professional system can consist of the above components, a solenoid valve, a bubble counter and/or a manifold to pump CO2 into more than one tank. A small pressurised system could cost as small as $200, and a larger, more professional setup could cost up to $1000. Pressurised CO2 is the most accurate way of injecting CO2 into a planted aquarium. DIY CO2 injection consists of mixing water, yeast and sugar together. The solution reacts together, and gives off CO2 gas. This gas can then be directed into the aquarium. Mixtures need to be replaced every 2-4 weeks, depending on quantities used. DIY mixtures are hard to control, and can bump the CO2 rate up and down, depending on the mixture, temperature and the age of the mixture. DIY setups are very cheap to use though, and more than one mixture can be used at once to get a higher CO2 rate. The third way of putting CO2 into the tank is via fish waste. Fish create waste, which partially turns into CO2. A tank of 200L’s with 15-20 small-medium sized fish will create an average amount of CO2, which the plants can thrive off. This way, not only do your fish look good, but they also help the plants. Using fish is the easiest way to get CO2 into your aquarium, and can give just as good results as a DIY setup can. CO2 injection is not a necessity if you have a good fish load. Fertiliser Fertilisers are the third part of growing healthy plants. Plants need micro nutrients, and macro nutrients to grow. A lot of these come from fish waste also, but dosing them ups the amount available to the plants, making them grow faster and nicer. All in one products like Seachems ‘flourish’ are often used, but more specialised dosing needs to be done in order to have the best plants. A good dosing formula to use is the ‘poor mans dupla drops’ formula, also known as PMDD. PMDD consists of many different compounds. The ingredients are listed below. PMDD 2 Teaspoons (~14g) K2SO4 (potassium sulfate) 1 Teaspoon (~6g) KNO3 (potassium nitrate) 2.5 Tablespoons (~33g) MgSO4-7H2O (fully hydrated magnesium sulfate, aka epsom salts; omit if present in trace element mix) 1 Tablespoon (~9g) Chelated Trace Element Mix (7% Fe, 1.3% B, 2% Mn, 0.06% Mo, 0.4% Zn, 0.1% Cu, EDTA, DTPA) 300 ml (1.5 cups) distilled H2O This is the basic mix for PMDD, but more specialised options can be made to suit your plant needs. Another way to add fertilisers to your tank are through special 'plant balls' or 'tablets'. These are especially good for heavy root feeders like most of the Echinodorus sp. Jbl 7's balls are recommended by a lot of people. these contain 7 important ingredients in plant growth. other root feeders are available as well. This way has worked for me, but there is no guarantee it will work for you. This is a basic outline of what sort of equipment and materials you need to have a successful planted aquarium Rogan Donaldson Sources: http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/pmdd.htm Forum members on www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom

probably 8)

Yea definately

oh and how high is the tank? lighting will depend alot on that factor. For example, if your tank was 3 foot high, you would need some crazy lighting to reach the bottom plants, but if its only 1 foot high, then you hardly need anything.... Start with 2-4 tubes, and see how it goes, but you will want pressurised co2 later on, and you will want more light. Just give in and go MH 8) :lol:

Nah thats just some light planting mate

Go for it. Plant it out, and then eventualy once you realise that plants are much better than malawis, you will setup your big tank as a planted tank, MH lighting, pressurized co2, under gravel heating, Ferts, Discus, Apistos, Corys, Rare plecos. Yea you will catch the plant bug... muahahahahaha Oh and get platys, Platys are cool 8)